Woolworths fallout: Fair Work Ombudsman fires broadside at big business

Woolworths unpaid staff by up to $300 million

Australian businesses with apparently slipshod attitudes towards paying their staff correctly are in the sights of the Fair Work Ombudsman.

In the wake of Woolworths' admission on Wednesday that the giant retailer may have underpaid 5,700 staff by as much as $300 million over nine years, ombudsman Sarah Parker said the growing trend of corporations fessing up to sloppy payroll maths was disturbing.

Watch the video on the Woolworths underpayment scandal above

She says her office will conduct its own investigation into Woolworths and hold it to account over any breaches of workplace laws.

“Lately, we are seeing a disturbing number of large corporates publicly admitting that they have underpaid their staff," she said.

"Some of these matters go back many years and several comprise millions of dollars owed to workers.

"This is simply not good enough."

Think you may have been underpaid? Use the wage calculator here to find out if your boss is ripping you off

Parker said the "careless missteps" being made by big business were running into millions of dollars across entire workforces.

"The non-compliance identified within many of these companies is caused by ineffective governance combined with complacency and carelessness toward employee entitlements," she said.

"It is not surprising that workers lose trust in their company when this happens."

* CBA has not confirmed the figure estimated by the Financial Sector Union.
** Qantas has not settled on a final figure, saying it believes about 55 workers in its digital marketing and analytics team have been underpaid on average about $8,000 a year over an unspecified period of time. Credit: CBA, Wesfarmers, Qantas, Michael Hill, Made Establishment, Woolworths

Household names such as Wesfarmers, Qantas, Commonwealth Bank, Super Retail Group and Michael Hill Jewellers are just some corporations and businesses caught up in a growing underpayment scandal.

Celebrity chefs George Calombaris (MAdE Establishment chain of restaurants) and Neil Perry (Rockpool Dining Group) have also been publicly scrutinised, having to repay workers entitlements of $7.8 million and $1.6 million respectively.

Even the national public broadcaster has outed itself, with admissions earlier this month the ABC has set aside $23 million to compensate about 2,500 casual staff who may have been underpaid.

Hospitality worst culprit

In the past financial year alone, Fair Work Ombudsman wage theft inspectors recovered more than $40 million for 18,000 underpaid employees, the highest total yet in the independent statutory agency's 10-year history.

Announcing the figures last week, the ombudsman identified the hospitality industry as the most high-risk sector with the most vulnerable workers.

More than 50 per cent of litigations brought by the office were against fast food, restaurant and cafe operators, totalling $1.6 million in court fines.

The ombudsman also received more than 16,000 anonymous reports of workplaces allegedly failing to meet their legal obligations towards employees.